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KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

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KUT Afternoon Newscast for August 12, 2025: Suspect in shooting at North Austin Target had extensive criminal history

Central Texas top stories for August 12, 2025. Suspected gunman at North Austin Target had a history of mental health issues and frequent run-ins with law enforcement since at least 2012. The Austin Independent School District has released a list of schools that will be used to decide which campuses should be merged, and how school boundaries should be redrawn. The deadline is quickly approaching for folks affected by the July flooding to apply for FEMA assistance. Central Health will lays out its proposed budget for Travis County commissioners.

This podcast is made at KUT and KUTX, which are public radio stations in Austin, Texas. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.

KUT Afternoon Newscast for August 11, 2025: 3 people killed in parking lot of Target store in North Austin

Central Texas top stories for August 11, 2025. Three people killed after shooting in northeast Austin Target parking lot. The Austin city council considers asking voters to approve tax rate increase of about 5 cents. Students at 76 AISD schools will receive free breakfast and lunch this school year. I-35 overhaul causes a detour on Austin’s Butler hike-and-bike trail. New barriers going up on Austin’s Sixth Street. State lawmakers consider capping how much cities and counties can tax homeowners. Texas Football achieves a program first prior to season kickoff.

This podcast is made at KUT and KUTX, which are public radio stations in Austin, Texas. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.

Adult education programs feel the squeeze as federal funds remain on hold

Federal education funding is put on hold, leaving administrators scrambling to evaluate what programs may be affected and what comes next – not just for young students, but Texans in adult education programs as well.
What could rural schools teach the rest of us about how to better get along? New research by the George W. Bush Institute offers insights.
And just in time for July 4th: the Brazilian BBQ smoker many Texas pitmasters are calling the bomb.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org

Elon Musk’s lobbying machine finds wins in Texas

Elon Musk may be on the outs in D.C., but closer to home, his political influence appears to be on the rise: The state’s richest billionaire scored some quiet but rather significant victories in the last legislative session.
Legislative support for wind and solar may be on the wane, but Texas lawmakers appear to be warming up to geothermal energy.
Don’t like tariffs? Commentator W.F. Strong tells us how some earlier generations of Texans didn’t, either – and what they did to fight them.
And: Remembering Cass Wheeler, who helped transform the American Heart Association into a national force during his 30 years at the helm.

You can support our work by becoming a sustaining member at supportthispodcast.org.

KUT Morning Newscast for May 30, 2025: Austin has paid out $27 million to people injured by police during 2020 racial justice protests.

Central Texas top stories for May 30, 2025. After Wednesday’s storms and floodings, officials are asking residents not to drive through low water crossings. Wednesday’s storms brought rain, hail and wind speeds up to 85 mph, but only to some parts of town, here’s why. Power outages continue in Austin after storms. Five years after protests following George Floyd’s murder, Austin has finally settled nearly 30 lawsuits over police conduct. 

KUT Morning Newscast for April 21, 2025: Round Rock ISD is reporting a budget surplus for the next school year. 

Central Texas top stories for April 21, 2025. Early Voting for the May election starts tomorrow, here’s what’s on the ballot. Officials with the Round Rock Independent School District are now reporting a budget surplus for next school year. The Trump administration is withholding funds from recipients of a federal program that provides uninsured people with family planning and preventive reproductive health services. Texas lawmakers are considering a bill this week that could create new state-backed district attorneys in the areas around the state’s biggest cities. The City of Austin wants to hear from the LGBTQIA+ community on their interactions with APD. It’s the last week of the Austin Municipal Court and the Downtown Austin Community Court’s Warrant Amnesty program.

Fans are overjoyed for Texas’ first women’s sports bar

Emergency officials warn of extreme wildfire dangers across much of the Lone Star State as residents of the Panhandle mark one year since the largest wildfire in state history. The Texas Newsroom’s Rachel Osier Lindley reports on the long road back to normal.
From basketball to soccer and more, women’s sports is having a major moment. Now the state’s first women’s sports bar is about to open in Austin. The Standard’s Sarah Asch tells us more.
And: Bernard Harris Jr. made history as the first Black astronaut to walk in space. He shares his journey and discusses his new book, “Embracing Infinite Possibilities.”

KUT Morning Newscast for October 23, 2024

Central Texas top stories for October 23, 2024. CapMetro announced its Metro Rail will go back to its regular schedule. Travis County is seeing a record number of people show up to the polls. AID voters will decide on a tax rate increase. The Austin City Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a new police labor contract.

KUT Morning Newscast for July 16, 2024

Central Texas top stories for July 16, 2024. Austinites can weigh into the city’s proposed budget for next year, here’s how. The Austin Police Department is trying to fill officer vacancies with its upcoming cadet class. A judge from the Austin area is training officials in Peru on the ins and outs of the American criminal justice system. Austin FC will be part of Copa Tejas.

Children at Risk’s annual ranking of Texas schools is out

Texas officials say they’re reassigning workers to deal with an ongoing problem of providing care for foster kids without placement.

The 2022-2023 school ratings report from Houston-based nonprofit Children at Risk sheds light on progress and problems that districts are facing statewide.

Former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, who also had a short stint in Houston, will soon take on a new position overseeing Austin’s police department.

And a giraffe in a park in Juárez, who made headlines last year, is getting a new home.

Exploring the Lone Star State with the evolving Texas Almanac

Charges have been dismissed against 17 Austin police officers accused of assault during racial justice protests of 2020. Andrew Weber of KUT has more.

A prison assault and what records suggest about a lack of transparency over security and safety in Texas lockups.

First published in 1857, the Texas Almanac has evolved and changed hands several times. We’ll hear about the 72nd edition of the journal from its managing editor, Rosie Hatch.

Worried about the power grid holding this winter? Why Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson says, he, for one, isn’t.

And a tradition for football fans of the Cowboys, hundreds of miles from Big D.

KUT Morning Newscast for August 21 2023

Central Texas top stories for August 21 2023. Austin Police Chief retires. Death Star bill. Hays CISD Dismissals. National Weather Service. Pet Fire Safety. Austin FC. 

KUT Morning Newscast for June 13, 2023

Central Texas top stories for June 13, 2023. Cedar Park shooting update. Travis County Commissioners pride flag raising. Austin Police training changes. Eanes ISD police department. Donating blood with puppies. UT Baseball.

KUT Afternoon Newscast for March 3, 2023

Central Texas top stories for March 3, 2023. AISD to host town halls ahead of superintendent search. Pease Elementary could become an early childhood center. Austin Police officers will get a pay increase. Pflugerville closes debris drop-off site. Texas men’s and women’s basketball close out the regular season. Austin FC looks to bounce back from season opening defeat.

KUT Morning Newscast for September 16, 2022

Central Texas top stories for September 16, 2022. APD license plate readers. Parkland dedication fee increase. Austin Police Oversight Act. Leander water restrictions. AISD affordable housing. Sticky “honeydew” secreted by aphids. Mexican American Cultural Center’s Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebration.

KUT Afternoon Newscast for September 02, 2022

Central Texas top stories for September 02, 2022. Indicted police officer. Austin ISD disciplinary actions. Social studies standards. Austin-Bergstrom labor day. Longhorns football. Austin FC. Longhorns volleyball.

KUT Morning Newscast for August 11, 2022

Central Texas top stories for August 11, 2022. DPS records related to Uvalde mass shooting public. A possible ballot measure seeks to increase police oversight in Austin. Free school meals will be different this upcoming school year. Student loan forgiveness impact on Texas borrowers. UT Austin is leading a partnership for semiconductor development. Meals on Wheels Central Texas launches the “Beat the Heat” program.

KUT Morning Newscast for August 2, 2022

Central Texas top stories for August 2, 2022. Austin Community College board of trustees approves new compensation package for employees. Austin’s Public Safety Commission reviews police staffing. Swimming is suspended at Blue Hole in Wimberley. The San Marcos City Council is hosting a discussion about putting the decriminalization of marijuana on the ballot in November.

Texas Standard: May 11, 2022

What happened to more than a billion dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds for Texas? Officials want to know whether the money was misspent. Were COVID-19 relief funds used to defray the costs of the governor’s border crackdown? That story plus, how nominally non-partisan school board elections in Texas became a magnet for big money donations, and what that could mean for what’s taught in public school classrooms. Also higher ed in Texas prisons: a new report outlines big gender disparities in opportunity. And the work of the code inspector, and why it often isn’t working to help many apartment renters. Plus a Politifact check on SB8 and much more today on the Texas Standard:

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